At Kirshenbaum, Vi tale, 33, will oversee strategic planning across the New York-based shop and all of its units, including digital- and direct-marketing arm Dotglu, PR group Lime and media operation The Me dia Kitchen. He absorbs the duties of vp, head of planning Stacy Lesser, who oversaw planning for the advertising unit and left earlier this month.

Vitale will manage a five-person strategic-planning department, which is expected to grow to 10, said Kirshenbaum president Rosemarie Ryan, to whom Vitale will report.

“There’s a new generation of planning that’s emerging,” said Ryan. “It used to be about writing a great creative brief that would breed great creative advertising. We’re now thinking about the brand issue in the marketplace.”

She praised Vitale’s “media-neutral” approach, citing his work on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts at Kirshenbaum during his first tenure at the shop from 1997-2001.

Vitale said that, in his new role, he wants to make brand communications consistent not only in their look and feel, but also in their strategy.

Before moving to Europe, Vitale, a native of Italy, worked at Ogilvy & Mather in New York.

Kirshenbaum has an estimated $284 million in billings; clients include Target and Hennessy.